FrictioNRG: Another Form of Renewable Energy
Background Someday in early 2008, I was traveling in an SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) from Dhaka to Moulavi Bazar (in Bangladesh) for a field visit. One of my colleagues, who was a Geophysicist, was also accompanying me in the trip. It was about 7-8 hours journey and we were talking most of the times. Discussion topics were diverse and one of the topics was alternative energy. At that point of time oil price was in its pick, probably about 150 US$ per barrel. All of the windows of the car were closed as because the AC was on. However, for some reason, the driver opened an window while the car was moving at about 80 km per hour. So, a huge blow of fresh air entered in to the car and splashed in to my face. Suddenly I realized that our car is generating huge amount of friction with the air! In other words, if I was out of the car and sitting or standing somewhere in the same spot of the road, I might not feel that much of air speed. But while the car was moving at a certain speed it wa